25,000 grocery cards available

Yesterday in New Haven, Governor Ned Lamont and Connecticut Department of Social Services Commissioner Andrea Barton Reeves announced that Connecticut would begin distributing one-time, $300 electronic grocery cards to some of the more than 32,000 residents who recently lost SNAP. The cards will be distributed by the state’s Community Action Agencies.

Here’s what to know, what we like, and what we don’t.

What to know: 

•  $300 one-time electronic grocery card for food
  

   

• Available for any individual in a Connecticut household who lost SNAP after December 2025 due to new federal work requirements (contained in H.R. 1, also known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”)
  
  
• Available per person who lost SNAP, not per household
  
  
• People can apply to receive one from their local Community Action Agency
  
  
• Approximately 25,000 electronic cards available
  
  
• Electronic card is through the Akimbo app — a limited number will be available as physical cards.
  

What we like:

• This is direct cash to working class people who need it, giving people the flexibility to buy their own groceries where and when they need them.
  
  
• Something is better than nothing, and $300 is something.
  
  
• Community Action Agencies serve communities throughout our state and have relationships with people who are losing food access. This is the first state response to SNAP benefits loss that goes directly to working class people instead of food banks – food banks do good work, but they are not always easy to get to or open at hours that work for working class people, and they don’t always have the food that people need. As food bank leaders have said themselves, we can’t food bank our way out of the SNAP crisis. Distributing per person, rather than per household, more closely tracks what people have actually lost: SNAP itself is determined by household but scales with family size, so this approach should keep things fair, helping the families who lost the most SNAP.    
  
  
• This is a band-aid in the true sense of the word. It will help a little, for a short time.

What we don’t like:

• This is a band-aid in the true sense of the word. It will help a little, for a short time. But more Connecticut residents are going to keep losing SNAP due to federal changes. Our state still needs a transitional SNAP benefit program. 
  
  
• Connecticut residents are going to keep losing SNAP due to federal changes. Our state still needs a transitional SNAP benefit program.
  
  
• $300 will not last long. Even the USDA admits that one “thrifty” week of groceries for a family of four costs around $235, according to the latest food price reports. If all four family members do get a $300 one-time benefit, that is still barely above the average for one month of “thrifty” grocery costs.
  
  
• 25,000 electronic cards will not cover everyone who has lost SNAP. The state is focusing solely on people who have lost SNAP due to federal work requirements since December, not those who have lost it due to things like federal paperwork changes or funding cuts. Nearly 18,900 Connecticut children alone have lost their food access since the federal government began making cuts and changes to SNAP last July, at a higher rate than the national average. More than 32,500 Connecticut residents lost SNAP between July 2025 and April 2026.
  

The bottom line:

If you’ve lost your SNAP since December 1, 2025 due to federal work requirements (“ABAWD” requirements), we encourage you to contact your local Community Action Agency right away.

Working class people are going hungry because of SNAP cuts and changes. They’ve been loud and consistent about telling our state’s leaders to do something. The state’s one-time electronic grocery card will put food on the table for a brief time for some families, and we are glad this first step is finally happening.

But our state must look beyond band-aids. The federal government is intentionally trying to cut people off from their food by slashing SNAP funding and making it harder for people to apply and qualify for SNAP. Connecticut’s leaders must create a state-run transitional SNAP benefits program to provide a more stable and fair safety net for people losing their food stamps. Working class people need stability, and that includes both a permanent state-run transitional SNAP benefit fund and long-term better access to social safety net programs that are designed for them.

Nearly 18,900 Connecticut children have lost their food from SNAP in recent months, at a worse rate than other states. The $300 benefits might get their families through a few weeks of groceries, and that is not nothing.

But what happens after that?